Paperboard tray



United States PAPERBOARD TRAY Curtis M. Shanahan, Whittier, can, assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application November 14, 1956, Serial No. 622,191

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-30) This invention relates to paperboard trays and particularly to trays formed of boxboard which are adapted to contain bakery goods or the like and to be overwrapped to retain the freshness of such goods.

The usual tray for such purpose is formed from a blank comprising a bottom panel, two side walls, two end walls and flaps laterally joined to the end walls which are secured to the side walls to retain the tray in set-up condition. It has been found that such trays when overwrapped and stacked do not give adequate protection to their contents if such contents are fragile and round in shape, such as cookies or doughnuts, and this is especially true when the end walls and flaps are of greater vertical dimension than the side walls, as is often the case.

It is an object of the invention to provide a tray of of otherwise conventional trays may be utilized as pedestals for the support of similar trays superimposed thereon. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof and from the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of paperboard tray according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a partial elevation showing parts of two trays according to Figure 1 in stacked relation; and

Figure 3 illustrates the blank from which the tray of Figure 1 may be formed.

Essentially the paperboard tray comprises a bottom panel having two side walls ad two end walls secured to the bottom in upright relation. The end walls are of a height somewhat greater than the side walls and carry corner flaps by which the end walls may be joined to the side walls. The end walls and the corner flaps are preferably integrally joined by a foldable section defined by upwardly diverging fold lines. A center fold line is impressed as an extension of the hinge line between the end wall and the corner flap. This line is symmetrical with the diverging fold lines and forms therewith two connected, inwardly foldable, tapered panels at each corner of the tray. The upward extent of the center fold line is somewhat greater than that of the divergent fold lines and the upper edges of the panels are tapered uniformly upward along straight lines to meet at the center fold line and to compensate for the de crease in height due to the inward folding of the tapered panels along inclined lines. Thus the upper edges of the inwardly folded panels will be disposed substantially in the plane defined by the principal portions of the upper edges of the end walls and attached corner flaps. By such construction upper supporting edges are provided all portions of which lie in the same plane, whereby the bottom of a similar tray placed upon a subjacent tray will be adequately supported.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 3, the preferred form the of tray selected for purposes of illustration comprises a bottom panel 10, a pair of side wall panels 11 integrally joined thereto along fold lines 12., a pair of end wall panels 13 integrally joined to panel 10 along fold lines 14, and corner flaps 15 integrally joined to the lateral edges of panels 13 along fold lines 16 which are substantially aligned with fold lines 12.

The tray of Figure 1 is retained in set-up condition with flaps 15 secured in face-to-face relation. with adjacent portions of side wall panels 11 by means of a suitable adhesive (not shown). It will be apparent, however, that other securing means known in the art, such as mechanical locks of the tongue-and-slit or other types, may be employed, and that the tray may have additional score lines so located as to allow the tray to be manufactured in collapsed condition and then expanded to set-up condition. Furthermore the height of panels 11 may be equal to the height of panels 13 if desired, but they should not be greater for the greatest utility of the invention.

Each upper corner of the tray is provided with traysupporting means according to the invention generally designated at 17, 17. Each of these means 17 comprises two connecting elements in the form of tapered panels which are inversely congruent and symmetrically related in mirror image relation about a fold line 18 in alignment with fold line 16, element 19 being integrally joined to end wall panel 13 along fold line 20 and element 21 being integrally joined to end wall flap 15 along fold line 22. As will be observed from Figure 3, fold lines 20 and 22 converge away from the free edges 23 and 24 of end wall panel 13 and end wall flap 15, respectively, and terminate at the ends of a short arcuate slit 25 which separates fold lines 16 from fold lines 18. Furthermore, elements 19 and 21 have extended portions formed by free edges 26 and Z7 converging outwardly from the free edges of end wall panels 13 and end wall flaps 15 so that they meet substantially at the end of fold lines 18. The arrangement is such that, when the tray is set up and the tray-supporting means 17 is pushed inwardly as shown in Figure 1, free edges 26 and 27 are in substantially the same plane as the upper free edges of end wall panels 13 and end wall flaps 15.

In this way, a tray according to the invention provides a simple and reliable support for other trays stacked thereon, as shown in Figure 2, and does so without additional cost and in such a way as to give more certain protection to the contents of the lower tray. It will be understood that many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the foregoing specific embodiment is merely illustrative rather than restrictive. It is intended, therefore, that the invention be construed as broadly as possible consistent with the language of the appended claim.

I claim:

A paperboard tray comprising a rectangular bottom panel having two side walls and two end walls secured thereto in upright relation, the end walls being of a height to project somewhat above the upper edges of the side walls, corner flaps integrally joined to the edges of the end walls for connecting the end walls to the side walls, said corner flaps having a height equal to the height of the end walls, the integrally joined portions of each of the end walls and corner flaps including a foldable section defined by upwardly diverging fold lines and a center fold line symmetrical with the diverging lines to form two connected, inwardly, foldable, tapered panels at each corner of the tray, the upward extent of the center fold line being somewhat greater than that of the diverging fold lines and the upper edges of the foldable panels being tapered uniformly upward along straight lines to meet at the center fold line to compensate for the decrease in 'height due to the inward folding of the tapered panels along inclined lines, whereby the upper edges of the inwardly foldetble .panels, When so folded, will be disposed-substantially in the sa'meiplane as the principal portions ofthe upper edges of the end walls and attached corner flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Johnson Aug. 5, 1941 Elliott et a1. Feb. 6, 1945 Buttery Dec. 18, 1951 Kuhlman Oct. 19, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 22, 1954 

